Four glorious years
Four glorious years! .That was the heading that Brett (who puts the newsletter together), gave me!
It may not have been glorious all of the time, but actually for a lot of the time it has felt pretty good. We started the company with nothing and in the words of the song, "we’ve still got most of it left!"
On 1 October 2004 we started with six support workers, providing quality support to six clients. Now here we are four years later, providing more than one thousand hours support per week, and employing more than eighty staff. We are also confident that we will take on another significant contract within the next few months
When we started the Company, we began with lots of enthusiasm and goodwill along with the support of many parents, carers and care managers who knew Jon and I from our previous work in Bradford.
Now, four years later, the future of Supported Lives looks more secure. Whilst cashflow is always an ongoing reality in these troubled times, we have turned the corner, and feel that we have a bright future ahead of us.
With individualised budgets now being closer to becoming a reality and the new programme for people with learning disabilities, we see a positive future for both ourselves and for our clients. We hope that we will grow and be able to continue to provide real and meaningful opportunities to people in Bradford and beyond, thus enabling them to live positive and fulfilled lives
John Drury
Congratulations!
Congratulations to Owen and Pippa on the birth of their son, Isaac.
"Hear the mighty Welsh Dragon roar!"
And also to Martin and Sarah Hesselden on the birth of their son, Alfie.
"Come on you Leeds!"
Jon Wright
Director to do ‘visits’!
Just to let you all know that I have started coming out to do some ‘sampling’ and intend to visit a couple of clients and their support workers each week.
In doing this I will get to know the realities that you all face: what things there are for you to do and what the gaps are. However, please don’t wait for me to turn up to let us know what good things you are doing or if you are struggling for things to do. Contact the office so we can help you or let others know of good resources. I will just drop in on a couple of people each week, but don’t worry, these visits are intended to be positive and supportive .
PS. I will sometimes wear a disguise, and at other times I will jump out of a big box and shout "SURPRI-ISE!".
Looking forward to seeing you all.
John Drury
Lives being supported by
Supported Lives
Welcome to our celebrity supplement!
The pictures on the next six pages show some of the activities that some of our clients have been involved in over the last few months.
Some are special events (particularly Michelle’s!) and some are things that people do every week.
Hopefully the photos will give you an idea of what we get up to and how much fun we have doing it.
Kristian Adey is keen actor. This is him and his mother, Maralyn,
at his successful audition for a part in Shameless.
James Munro arriving at cafe in Ilkley
Sharon, out shopping
Martin Linney, out for a walk at Ogden Water
Sohail on his way to the swimming pool
Michael Mennell and Imy leaving Shipley Resource Centre
Gez, Alan Holian, Corinne and Martin Linney at the cafe on a rare
sunny day in Manningham Park
Mark Allison does a variety of activities with help from Supported
Lives.
This photo was taken when the walking group he's a member of went
to
the York Maze this summer.
Michelle McCormack became Michelle Dixon on 26 July. With her are
husband Mark and children Chelsea, Lewis and Mercedes
The Supported Lives Swingers
Alan Holian entertaining at a recent coffee morning
Rachel and Andrea with Louise’s baby Kayleigh at the coffee morning
Janet Dickinson on her way to the cinema
Lisa Gallagher out in the car
Matthew Steadman found it hard to tear himself away from this
Ferrari at Batley Motor Museum
Simon Nunn is fanatical about traction engines ("Big
Bothers"). He attends the Pickering Rally every year. This
is Simon on his friend David Ragsdale's Burrell showman's
engine.
Richard Barrett goes for a day out with Brett once a month. He
likes to fit a stately home into the day if he can. This is
Richard at Nostell Priory, one of a dozen or so he's visited this
year.
Michael Rushforth, after one his trips to the swimming pool
Management roles clarified
We have had a look at our management roles within Supported Lives and we have made some additions and changed some responsibilities. This has already helped simplify procedures and make us more efficient and effective (always a good thing!)
This is who we all are and what we now do:
John Drury Director in charge of operational matters and training/staff development
Jon Wright Director in charge of finance and student placements
Owen Jones Operations Manager managing both team leaders and all operational aspects of the company.
Sally Benn Human Resources Manager with special responsibility for finance and the administration team. (And also a bit of training!)
Finance and Admin Team
Eileen Nolan responsible for all invoicing and credit control
Emilia Troc responsible for general administration
Adam Foster responsible for assisting with salaries and expenses claims
Jon Wright
Students
We have two new BA Social Work students on placement from September to March: Dayo Ogunsanwo and Lucy Mphato.
Many thanks also to The Big Soup in Keighley for offering a placement opportunity for both of our students one day a week.
Jon Wright
Bat-I About Kidz
Bat-I About Kidz is a registered charity set up to provide holidays to Disney Resort Paris and other venues for children and young people with disabilities and complex ill health needs.
Each holiday is organised to be able to meet the needs of disabled children and young people with complex ill health needs. We provide practical and nursing support, companionship and friendship. We are also able to accommodate the immediate family of the disabled person.
Holidays to Disney Resort in Paris comprise of 4/5 days including travel, staying in Resort at the Newport Bay Club Hotel which is 4 star, and enables easy access to the Village, Disney Studios and Disneyland Park.
Each holiday is organised to meet the needs of families with similar requirements. We can also arrange group holidays if required. We choose our mode of transport based on the needs of our holidaymakers. We are only a small charity but we may be able to help a family with the cost of the trip, please contact us for more information. If you need more information about how to apply for the holidays or are interested in helping us to fund raise, then you can either go to our website www.batiaboutkidz.org or contact Mary on 01274 881 705 or Maralyn on 07770 882 404.
Can you help us? We desperately need storage space possibly the size of a small room or garage to keep the donations of toys, clothes, books, bric- a-brac etc. that are donated to us for fundraising events. If you have any space that you think might be of use to us please get in touch with me.
Thank you.
Maralyn Adey
